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--- 325:questions:week_13_questions_comments-325_17 [2017/04/20 12:02] – [“A Global Graveyard”] 76.78.226.166
+++ 325:questions:week_13_questions_comments-325_17 [2017/04/20 13:09] (current) – [“A Global Graveyard”] lmccuist
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 When looking through the photos its rather clear that this group of people see this technology as something that can be sold for the scrap metal in order to get the needs they really need like food and water. You can't eat a computer, nor have these people grown up in an environment that fosters use of computers in advances in technology. It's sort of ironic that they can give people this hazardous waste simply by calling it a gift rather than waste, but they are using this gift to improve their lives just not in the way the donors intended. - Laura B. Downs
+One image that really struck me was the photo with the burning computer with the caption explaining that this the burning of technology is often done so its metals can be sold for profit. To me, this showed the differences between the wealthiest countries and the poorest ones. In wealthy nations, access to information via computers and the internet is vital. One can't really operate from day-to-day without it - and their life wold be incredibly difficult (by their standards). However, poor countries don't have the ability to use the technology for information purposes but instead are forced to use the physical materials to help provide incomes, despite the negative consequences for the environment. This lack of information will keep allowing the wealthy countries to pull increasing farther ahead of the poorer countries. - Helen Salita
+My Intro to Digital Studies class has gone over the wasting of toxic electronics, so it was not surprising to see the Times article, but it was no less upsetting. The inability to recycle hazardous material by throw-away societies affects the whole world, specifically regions where wealthier countries care less. Giving toxic materials (not worth any more than what their parts can be sold for) as gifts to groups of people in these regions is a shameless means of disposal. Mining materials to build these machines affect countries in Africa horribly, as well. The whole process of producing electronics has become a global crisis that literally poisons parts of the world that the producers seem to have no real regard for. While we've accepted the use of electronics as an essential part of our lives, we deliberately ignore 90% of our devices' history and production.  --- //[[lmccuist@umw.edu|Lindsey McCuistion]] 2017/04/20 08:09//